Apr

Culinarily, uptown Manhattan is a part of New York that is often unfairly overlooked. We asked our staff for their favorite restaurants above 120th Street, which serve delicious meals ranging from southern comfort to Shanghainese soup dumplings. Next time you head uptown, try out some of our suggestions!

Apr

Your Senior Night plans are cancelled. Bernheim and Schwartz will close its doors indefinitely tomorrow, April 30, 2017, after just three years in Morningside Heights. Despite serving only a short tenure on campus, Bernheim had established itself as many seniors’ weekly Wednesday night plans, a decent place for a giant pretzel, and a hard-ass on fakes. We wonder what freshmen will do now that they won’t be receiving a free Bernheim bottle opener in their NSOP goodie bags.

After hearing a rumor from a friend of Bwog, we gave Bernheim a call to confirm. Though Bernheim & Schwartz won’t be open for a beer anymore, their catering business will continue to operate. When Bernheim moved in during 2014, they replaced Havana Central. Naturally, we’ve got to wonder just who will be replacing Bernheim (and if anyone will be replacing Bernheim; how much space does a catering business take up?) We’re sort of sad to see them go, but also hopeful that the replacement will provide us with a new Wednesday night tradition. RIP BoSchwo.

Apr

What better way to recover from V-123 than to go see even more student theater? That’s what Managing Editor Betsy Ladyzhets did last night, when she attended the King’s Crown Shakespeare Troupe’s midnight show (a.k.a. “drunk show”) of As You Like It. The production has one more show, which starts tonight at 8 pm on Pupin Plaza and has free admission.

I arrived at Pupin Plaza around ten minutes to midnight yesterday to watch KCST’s production of As You Like It expecting two things: first, to enjoy an engaging performance of a Shakespearean comedy, and second, to be unable to hear or understand half of the scenes. The first of these expectations was well met, and the second completely blown out of the water – even at a performance attended by around 150 people, many of whom were drunk. KCST delivered a show that was expert in its acting, yet fully accessible to its audience, and that submersed anyone watching completely into a fictional world where sins are forgiven, mistakes repaired, and love the highest law.

As You Like It is a romantic drama under the guise of a political drama. It follows two young nobles, Rosalind and Orlando, as they are banished from the courts of Duke Frederick (Rosalind’s uncle) and Oliver (Orlando’s brother), respectively, and find solace in the forest of Arden. In this forest, between shenanigans with shepherds and nobles alike, Rosalind tests Orlando’s professed love her by disguising herself as a man and attempting to berate him out of his affections. The play ends with not one, not two, but four weddings.

Apr

No matter what Columbia undergrad (or grad?) school you’re in, you most definitely have had experience trying to get an EC sign-in, either for yourself or a friend. (If you’re a grad student trying to get signed into an EC party…..wyd.) We compiled a handy list of strategies below for you to get effectively and efficiently signed into EC so you can enjoy those sweaty parties that never have enough alcohol to make it worth it.

Ask a passing stranger. If you see someone leaving or entering the building, grab them and ask if they live in EC and whether they’d be willing to spare you a sign-in. Make sure to seem either a. very confident or b. very sympathetic. Think kicked puppy thoughts, for this second one.

Text all your EC friends. If you have friends who live in EC, obviously ask them for a sign-in.

Text all your EC hookups. It’s crucial that whenever you hook up with anyone from aforementioned gross EC parties, you get their number so that you can ask them for a sign-in whenever you need. Alternatively, whenever you meet someone at a bar, frat party, whatever, if they live in EC, get their number. Use it.

Pretend you’re a Shabbat observer. This only works if it’s between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday. Also, if you do this, remember that you didn’t actually sign in – you’ll be very liable to forget your ID on the way out.

Get a CC/SEAS friend, wrap yourself around them, put on a big coat, and pretend you’re just one big person. Then your friend with access to EC can swipe in, and you can separate in the elevator. Doesn’t really work during the months of September, October, April, and May, but you can try this during those long, sad winter months.

Wear clothes that are the same color as the floor and crawl under the little gate thing. This only works when there’s enough people in the lobby that the public safety officer is a little overwhelmed trying to keep order, and can’t see the floor.

Have a CC/SEAS friend carry you through the little gate thing in a box or suitcase. This works better if you’re, say, not a 200-pound football player.

Just forget about getting signed in the legitimate way, scale the building, and jump down an air shaft. You’re too cool for sign-ins.

Apr

The Columbia/Barnard science community is blessed with countless lab research opportunities. Here, a first-year undergraduate researcher documents his experiences with a sonnet. He would like to preface this poem by stating that STEM, and not creative writing, is his forte.

You send out emails left and right:
“Please won’t you have me in your lab?”
Professors ghost you; you really hang tight,
And finally get invited to do research that’s fab!

You don’t know how to use a pipette,
All the PCR results that you get are crap.
You might as well get your data from playing roulette,
Why beat the learning curve if you can take a nap?

Your graduate mentor has the patience of a saint,
Now your gel electrophoresis doesn’t look so sad.
You read papers, review textbooks, and finally get trained,
You’re getting the hang of this – hey this isn’t so bad!

If you like science, join a lab – it’ll be neat!
You might publish a paper one day – now that’s a feat!

Apr

Happening in the United States:President Trump failed to repeal Obamacare within his first 100 days in office, as he originally promised, when House Republicans were unable to draw enough votes. (The New York Times)

Happening in New York City:Amtrak plans to undergo major repair work at Penn Station this summer to fix the station’s crumbling 40-year-old infrastructure. Expect major delays at Penn Station in the next few months. (CBS New York)

Happening on Campus: Go see the 123rd Annual Varsity Show tonight at 8pm! Tickets start at $8.50.

Overheard: “I don’t want to be pre-med anymore. I want to be pre-sugar baby.”

Study Tip: Studying for finals? Listen to some Mozart! Classical music has been shown to reduce stress, among other benefits.

Apr

As is customary, Bwog sent its Arts Editor to opening night of the Varsity Show in order to catch the scoop and write the show’s first review. This year, freshly minted Arts Editor Sarah Kinney was up for the challenge. Here is Bwog’s comprehensive review of the 123rd Annual Varsity Show, representing the compiled views of all Bwog staffers (as well as some of Kinney’s personal thoughts).

While waiting in the will-call line for the 123rd Annual Varsity Show outside of Lerner on Broadway, Debora Spar herself walked up to chat with the woman in line right in front of me. I turned around to my fellow Bwoggers in shock. “Holy shit,” I said to them, all of us murmuring and slyly taking photos. “That’s DSpar.” It was in that moment I knew I was in for quite the evening.

This year’s Varsity Show, A Tale of Two Colleges, was co-written by Amelia Arnold (BC ’17) and Mark Lerner (CC ’18), directed by Kyle Marshall (CC ’17), and produced by Rachel Andrews (BC ’19) and Alana Koenig (BC ’18). The Broadway-style music was composed by Simon Broucke (CC ’19) and Max Gumbel (CC ’18) and the moves were choreographed by Annie Block (CC ’19). As I settled into my fancy third row press seat, I looked up and realized—for the second time in the past ten minutes—that Debora Spar was right in front of me, sitting front and center in the very first row. The lights dimmed, and the show began.